Measuring Success

FALSE CREEK FLATSGREEN ENTERPRISE ZONE

DRAFT: Fall 2014

For the past year, the Vancouver Economic Commission has been

searching for opportunities to help spur the shift of the False Creek

Flats (the Flats) from a traditional industrial area to the greenest place

to work in the world. Given the nebulous nature of this goal, it is time

to pause, consider what it means to be the greenest place to work, and

take stock of how we will measure economic development success in

the Flats context.

This document is a starting point for establishing those measures.

Based on conversations with businesses, City staff, academics, and

district-scale sustainability professionals, the aim of this report is to

build a shared understanding of what sustainable or regenerative

economic development looks like and how we might use it as a tool in

sustainable community development.

INTRODUCTIONWHAT WE MEASURE MATTERS

The phrase ‘what gets measured gets managed’ is pervasive in the

business world, yet we seem to spend an exceptionally small amount

of time deciding what to measure. This is especially true in the field

of economic development. The industrial revolution brought with it

the concept that a steady growth in revenue, output, and jobs was

the key to economic prosperity, heightening the importance of the

measures of GDP and employment rates. Today, in spite of a rapid

shift away from a resource economy toward a connection economy,

GDP and employment rates still drive a significant portion of our

global economic development decisions. In light of this shift, however,

these measures are no longer the most relevant—failing to indicate

resilience, impact, and idea flow which are essential to the success of

the localized connection and innovation -based economy.

The connection economy also demands to be measured on a different

scale. Unlike the resource economy, which is measured in terms of

global resource allocation, the connection economy functions at a

more local scale, predominantly the district scale. It relies on localized

infrastructure, access to a diversity of opportunities and ideas, and

informal face-to-face interactions with peers.

The Vancouver Economic Commission has been a leader in recognizing

the importance of the green economy to date. We are one of the first cities

to track green and local food jobs, and our investigations into existing

district-scale sustainability frameworks have highlighted the need for

us to lead once again—this time in demonstrating how proactive green

economic development can contribute to the development of more

sustainable neighbourhoods. This is especially important in industrial

areas where more traditional mixed-use approaches to sustainable

development might not work. The framework presented here attempts

to demonstrate the role of green economic development in building

more sustainable neighbourhoods—districts that are simultaneously

industry and jobs focused, regenerative to their physical, social and

economic contexts, and self-sustaining.

MANAGING WHAT WE MEASURE

LEADING THE GREEN ECONOMY

SWITCHING SCALES

Economic Development Goals + Objectives

Leading Indicators + Metrics

Principles + Evaluation Criteria

INSIDE

GOALS + OBJECTIVESA PROACTIVE APPROACH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

CLIMATE FOR INNOVATION

Building off the momentum of the green building movement, the past

decade has brought an influx of energy and attention to neighbourhood

or district scale sustainability projects. The preliminary frameworks

that have been put forward to help guide and assess these projects have

quite successfully integrated environmental and social performance

areas, but they have only just begun to scratch the surface of the

economic development themes that come into play at the district scale.

This is, in part, because many neighbourhood-scale sustainability

projects have been focused primarily on residential areas.

In a business district, industrial sanctuary, or heavily commercial zone,

economic infrastructure can hold as much weight as physical and

social infrastructure for achieving a high-performing neighbourhood.

Based on prior green economy work, Vancouver’s Economic Action

Strategy, and the existing structure of the EcoDistricts Framework, the

following performance areas, goals and objectives for green economic

development have been established to help guide our thinking around

the role of economic development in crafting more sustainable

neighbourhoods.

GOAL Develop a work environment that promotes and sustains

business innovation.

OBJECTIVES• Create the physical and social conditions that are conducive

to exploration, idea sharing, networking, and resource sharing

among businesses.

• Identify and remove the regulatory barriers to implementing

innovative sustainability solutions.

• Build the digital infrastructure needed to support technology

sectors and smart city technologies.

• Promote public demonstration, prototyping, and testing of

innovative sustainability solutions, highlighting opportunities for

education in the landscape.

CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

GREENING BUSINESSES

GOAL Retain, expand, and attract businesses with a demonstrated

role in the circular economy, green economy, or innovation economy.

OBJECTIVES• Ensure businesses are not displaced through regulatory changes.

• Seek opportunities to scale social enterprise and other green sector

businesses that can fill missing links in the circular economy.

• Use waste-resources, green & digital infrastructure, flexible

building stock, and neighbourhood branding to attract new green

businesses & investment.

• Leverage infrastructure changes and new development projects to

test and highlight innovative green solutions.

GOAL Develop and retain green talent across a variety of sectors

and skill sets.

OBJECTIVES• Embed low-barrier green job training programs in all relevant

sustainability programs and projects.

• Prioritize smart city training within local technical and academic

institutions.

• Create a diverse atmosphere of employee amenities and public

spaces that support healthy lifestyles.

GOAL Promote the greening of business operations across all

sectors and business sizes.

OBJECTIVES• Ensure equal access to information and resources related to

greening business practices.

• Build capacity among the business community to understand the

benefits of greening their operations as well as the risks of not

greening their operations.

• Implement programs to recognize and promote greening efforts

among businesses.

INDICATORS + METRICSENSURING ECONOMIC RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAIN FUTURES

SPACE TO GROW

The following indicators and metrics have been synthesized from

a much longer list of possible metrics, using the principles and

evaluation criteria detailed in the following section of this report. They

are based on understanding and addressing economic development

barriers in the local context, measuring both impact and innovation,

and developing a system of measurement that will remain relevant in

the face of political, social, and cultural change.

REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY• New Space coming online (and demolitions)

• Absorption rates and vacancy rates

• Flexibility and diversity of spaces available

• Reported incidences of innovative / green companies unable to

find suitable space

OPPORTUNITIES TO DEMONSTRATE• Number of demonstration projects implemented on both public

and private facilities

REGULATORY PROCESSES• Length of permitting reviews

• Number of new building permits issued

ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS + EDUCATION• Number of students / trainees engaged in innovative education

programs geared toward sustainability

• Number of spin-off businesses (and employees) from these

programs

BUSINESSES GREENING OPERATIONS• Uptake with the Greening Businesses Digital Platform

• Number of green retrofit projects underway (capital projects)

• Number of businesses engaged in sector-based greening initiatives

• Impact of these projects

COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP OF GREEN GOALS

NETWORK STRENGTH + COMMUNITY COHESION

EMPLOYMENT + INNOVATION

COMMUNITY-LED PROJECTS• Number of organizations and individuals engaged in community-

led greening initiatives

• Impact of these projects

ECO-INDUSTRIAL NETWORKS• Number of resource sharing connections made (+ impact)

• Number of colocation projects / hubs (+ efficiencies)

CLUSTER STRENGTH• Number of social events held and shared spaces animated

• Number of new connections made

• Strength of ties to local business cluster

• Social media activation

BRAND AND IDENTITY• Strength of brand and reputation locally and internationally

• Media coverage cohesion and messaging

JOB OPPORTUNITIES• Number of innovative / green businesses (+ expansion expectations)

• Diversity of green job types (low barrier to high tech)

• Number of green jobs and innovation workers

• Percentage of jobs that are ‘regenerative’ (display autonomy,

mastery, and purpose)

INNOVATION METABOLISM• Number of IP claims

• Number of new start-ups

• Quality of idea flow (social physics measure)

INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION• $ Investment in green and digital infrastructure (demonstration)

• $ Investment in new green technologies

PRINCIPLES + EVALUATION CRITERIADEVELOPING MEASUREMENTS THAT EMBODY MEANING + INSPIRE ACTION

EMBRACE CHOICE + FOCUS

The following principles and evaluation criteria were developed in

order to pair down a long list of possible economic development

metrics on the district scale. A strong process inspires action;

therefore, the measurement process can also help serve as a means to

an end in community economic development initiatives. It can build

up a community’s capacity to contribute to common goals, develop a

sense of ownership over and attachment to the success of the project,

and serve as an economic stimulus unto itself. Thus, the following

principles and criteria apply to both the performance indicator itself

and the process by which it is measured.

Get beyond the language of broad goals and principles and laundry

lists of current initiatives. Ask the tough, project-specific, messy,

unclear questions, such as “What does it mean to be the greenest

place to work in the world?”, and “What are the key components that

make up a hub of green innovation?”

EVALUATION CRITERIA1. Does this hold economic, environmental, and/or social

significance?

2. Can we take action on this? Do we intend to?

3. How relevant is this metric to the VEC? Other parties?

4. Can this be tracked? How? By whom?

Measure continual improvement as opposed to setting static goals.

Everyday progress, even small wins, can create momentum and

motivate further action. Understanding that the concept of the

greenest place to work will evolve over time with new technologies

and knowledge, its measurement tools must also be flexible to reflect

continual learning and incremental progress.

EVALUATION CRITERIA1. Can this be tracked on an ongoing basis? How? By whom?

2. What would incremental success in this field look like?

CELEBRATE INCREMENTAL PROGRESS

3. Is this likely to become irrelevant in the face of new information

or technologies?

Setting an audacious goal such as transforming the False Creek Flats

from a traditional industrial area to the ‘greenest place to work in

the world’ implies we will need to push the envelope of what success

looks like. This means we can’t be afraid to measure something

radically different than the status quo. This may alse mean we need

to explore new or innovative ways to collect, analyze, track, share, and

use information.

In the evolution of sustainable neighbourhood development, we

have seen progress from green neighbourhood initiatives (aimed at

doing less harm) to sustainable neighbourhood initiatives (aimed at

producing a net zero impact). The next evolution on this continuum

is the development of regenerative neighbourhoods (places that aim

to do more good).

EVALUATION CRITERIA1. Is this flexible enough to include the next generation of

sustainability solutions aimed at doing more good?

2. Does this allow us to continually evolve our definition of success

through future iterations?

3. Are there innovative information collection and analysis models,

such as crowdsourcing, developing new social networks, or big

data analytics that will allow us to track and measure progress on

this?

The transformation of the False Creek Flats will not be an overnight

project and is thus susceptible to the complexity and ambiguity that

accompanies political changes, market volatility, and cultural shifts.

In the face of uncertain futures, we need to consider how the green

enterprise zone project can set the Flats up for greater economic

resilience.

PLAN FOR LONG-TERM RESILIENCE

BE INNOVATIVE IN WHAT + HOW WE MEASURE

EVALUATION CRITERIA1. Will this contribute to the long-term economic resilience of

the Flats by contributing to its social, financial, intellectual,

experiential, natural, or material capital?

2. Does this ensure that diverse and flexible solutions will be

considered?

3. Will this contribute to the development of adaptable or stranded

skill sets, infrastructures, and assets?